Slug-cutting machine for plastic material



May 15, 1928.

1,669,623 V. V. MESSER SLG CUTTING MACHINE FOR PLASTICMATERIAL' Filed April 5. 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet J Uhm will* l imml" Mm I I l l NVNTOR @www %/%'Ss5e BY W/dj ATTORNEY May 15, 192s. 1,669,623

V. V. MESSER sLuC CUTTINGy MACHINE FOR PLASTIC MATERIAL Filed' Aprl. 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR /sw/,n/f J/fssfe ATToRNEY May 15, 1928. 1,669,623

v. v. MESSER SLUG CUTTING MACHINE FOR PLASTIC MATERIAL Filed April 5. i924 6 Sheets-Sheet I5 ATTORNEY May l5, 1928. 1,669,623

v. v. MESSER SLUG CUTTING MACHINE FOR PLASTIC MATERIAL Filed April 5. .1.924 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 nmmumlun Za j l v INVENTOR MMM/ff fffssfp.

ATTORNEY V. V. MESSER SLUG CUTTING MACHINEJFOR PLASTIC MATERIAL Filed April 5, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY May l5, 1928.

. l| Irlf. I @n .|||..|1 TJV Q May. 15, 1928. 1,669,623 V. V. MESSER SLUG CUTTING MACHINE FOR PLASTIC MATERIAL Filed April 6. 19,24 6 sheets-sheet 6 INVENTOR `Ma/Aw@ JissE/P.

ATTORNEY Patented May 15, 1928.

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VLADIMIR VICTOR IIVEESSER, OF BOUGLASTON, NEVJ' YORK, ASSIGNORTO THE GOOD- YEAR TIRE z RUBBER CQMl/LN'/, QF AKRON, OHIO, A CDRPORATION OF G-IO.

SLUG-CUTTNG MACHNE Application filed April 5,

My invention relates to stamping. machines for stamping slugs of uniform volume from sheets of plastic material and it particularly relates to machines for cutting' slugs from sheets of uncured rubber for use inthe manufacture of molded rubber heels.

It has heretofore been customary to cut rubber slugs for use in the manufacture of rubber heels from sheets of plast-ic rubber by means of a die that was manually held between two relatively movable platens. The die is usually of somewhat 'less area than the area of the heel to be formed from the slug and the punchings from such dies V were afterwards sorted and trimmed to provide slugsof the desired volume or weight necessary to properly fill the Vmold cavity for rubber heels without an unreasonable excess of material that is diliicult to handle in the molding of such small articles.

Gang dies have to my knowledge never before been commercially used in the manufacture of rubber heels because of the in'- herent variation in the thickness of the stock to be cut and also because the waste is much greater when a gang die is used than when rubber slugs are cut from the sheet material by the use of a manually operated tool. For these reasons, it has previously been more economical to manually stamp the rubber slugs from the sheet material than to use gang dies of the type used for stamping sheet material of uniform thickness.

One object of my invention is to produce a machine that will cut slugs of uniform volume from plastic sheet material of vary* ing thickness.

Another object of my invention is to provide a gang die, having a single cutting tool, that is adapted to be adjusted to cut uniform slugs of different sizes from sheets of plastic material substantially without waste.

Additional objects and advantages to be derived from practicing` my invention will be apparent from a perusal of the accompanying specification and the drawings in which:

Fig. l is a vertical cross-sectional view of a machine constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the cutting edges of the tool secured to the top platen;

FOR PLASTIC ll/IATERIAL.

1924. serial No. 704,442.

Fig. 3 shows a slab of material from which the heel slugs are being cut;v

Fig. 1l is a front plan view, with parts broken away, of parts of the mechanism for automatically controlling the volume of maf terial contained in the slugs cut from the Isheet material;

F ig. 5-is a side elevational view looking in the right hand direction with respect to Fig. 4 of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away, ofv additional parts of the material advancing` control mechanism;

Fig.y 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially on the axis VII- VH of an adjusting' screw of themateri'al advancing control mechanism shown in Fig. 6; f

Fig. 8 is a front elevationalview of a machine embodying a modified form of my invention 5 l Fig. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional View, with parts broken away, of the vmachine shown in Fig. 8, taken substantially on lines lli- 1X5 and Fig. l0 is a horizontal cross-sectional-view taken substantially on line X-X- of Fig. 8, of a cutting tool used in al modified form of my invention;

Fig. ll isa detail in elevat-ion of the` cutting tool shown in Fig. 10. A i

in general, my machine consists of a pair of feed rolls l and 2 that are adapted to feed a length of plastic sheet material 3 between a movable platen d, that carries an assembled cutting unit 5, and a stationary platen 6. The distance that the sheet material 3 is advanced with each operation of the cutting unit is controlled in accord-l ance with the thickness of the material by a feed control mechanism 7 (Figs. 4 and 5) whichy is actuated by the movement of. a gauge cam 8. y

Referring particularly to the vertical sec-` tional view of the machine shown in Fig. l of the drawings, the pair of feed rolls l and 2, each of which has a series of trans verse and longitudinal grooves formed in its surface, engage the material and me-y chanically advance a definite length of material for each operation ofthe cutting-tool 5, the cuttingedge of which is shown dia-- d grammatically in Fig. f2.

The cutting edge of the tool 5 has a series of substantially parallel cutting `portions S) that merge With a transverse cutting portion 9a, thereby forming a cutting tool that has a series of parallel cutting edges thatv are adapted to longitudinally slitthe material passed under the cutting tool. The cutting portions 9 terminate at one extremity .into

cut to be made bythe tool is shown in dotted outline. A view of the small slugs 1U, that Were severed from the slab 3 during the preceding cutting operation. are illustrated in this figure in order to shew their shape and relation to the remaining slab of material 3.

. c A series of stationary fingers 5a remove the severed slugs from the die With each operation of the tool.

It Will-readily be understood that the longitudinal dimension of the slugs 10, that are cut from the sheet material, may be controlled by changing the distance which the slab 3 of rubber is advanced for each operation ofthe cutting knives. Fig. il lustrates themechanismby means of which the distance that the slab of rubber is advanced with eachV cutting operation is manually controlled and Figs. 4:, 5 andl 7 illustrate parts of a mechanism that operates in conjunction with the feed controlling mechanism shown in` Fig. 6 to automatically modify the distance that thematerial is advanced inversely in accordance with the thickness of the material in order to produce slugs 1() of uniform volume and YWeight. Supplemental manual control of the adjusti ingr mechanism provides means for greatly i changing the size of the slug and the automatic adjusting control Will, after such adjustment of sizehas been made, accurately control the volume of the slug discharged from the machine.

The automatic control of the advancing mechanismris accomplished `by a gauge cam 8, most clearly` illustrated in Figs. 1 Vand 4L,

that is mounted on a cam shaft 11, and that` is caused to rotate by the engagementofa series of its teeth 12 `with the surface of the slab material 3 passing under the gauge cam. A helical spring lurges the cam against the direction of movement of the rubber slab7 thereby maintaining itin continuous contactvvith the surface of the rubber slab and automatically controlling its movement in accordance with the thickness or gauge of the material 3 passing underit. In other Words, ifvery thick material passes under thegauge cam, the engagement of the teeth ofthe cam with the surface of the material Will tend to rotate the cam against the action of the spring 13 in a counterfcloclcivise direction, whereas if thinner gauge of material passes under the cam the spring 13 Will rotate the cam in aclockwise direction until the engagementof the cam teeth` 12 with the surface of the slab material 3 preventsV furtherrotational movement of the cam.

l pinion 14 is mounted on one end of the cam shaft 11. The pinion held in engagement With a 1fach' 15 by a swinging support 16 of conventional form that is pivotally mounted. on the cam shaft.` The outer end of the rack armh15 is pivotally secured to a cam feed adjustment arm 17 that has an arcuate slot 17n formed therein fo adjustment of the degree of movement Aof the `gauge cam to correspond with the degree of movement that is to be transmitted to a. feed. controlling shaft 18 on the end of which the arm 17 is rigidly mounted. y i

. In order to simplify the mechanical arrangement of the remainderof the machine,` the remainder of the feed controlmechanism is mounted` on the other side of the machine and arranged to be actuated by the movement of the feed control shaft 18.

A, pawl 19 is pivotally mounted on the end of the shaft 1S as particularly illustrated in` Figs. e and 6. The paWl 19 is held inlined relation ivithrespect to the feed control shaft 18 by means. of a collar 4 6 that is rigidly mounted on `the shaft and a pair of helical .springs 47 and 48 that are mounted on an arcuate bolt i9 that extends `through the springs and, alsofthrough an eye in theV upper end of an arm .19a that extends upmounted thereon and actuated in accordance l with the movement of' the cam Q0. The stur 32 is rotatably` mounted ina bearing 2e that is concentric with respect tothe bottom feed roll 2. The cam 23 has a cam slot 25 that is adapted to receive a cam block 26 that controls the longitudinal movement of the feed screw 27.

A feed adjusting nut ed between the guides 29' of a rocker arm 29 that is mounted on Jthe housing of a ratchet n'iechanism 30 and.. adapted to move I Wit-h the housing concentrically with respect to the feed roll 2 that is driven by the ratchet mechanism.

A rocker arm operating nut 28 is slielably` 28 is slidably mountmountedv between the guide members 29a ofv the rocker arm which is"y rigidly connected to the oscillatable housing ofk a ratchet device 30 which advances the feed roll 2 a predetermined distance every time the rock er arm 29 is actuated. 'n

Therocker arm 29 is operated by an eccentric connecting' rod 3l that pivotally re ceives the operating nut 28 at its upper end and that is operated from the main shaft 33 of the machine through an eccentric 32.

Since the drive shaft 33 also controls the operation of the cutting die, the feed roll is advanced a predetermined distance for every operation of the cutting die.

The feed screw 27 is rotatably mounted in the rocker arm 29 that actuates the lower feed roll 2 through the ratchet mechanism 3(2)k in suchmanner that the oscillation of the rocker arm 2S)` drives the feed roll forward a distance that is determined by the position of the rocker arm operating nut 28 on the feed screw 27. y l I The cam block 26, the sides of which are o f arcuate form to correspond with the cam slot 25, is pivotally mounted on a lug 34 that is formed intregally with a sleeve 3.5 that is mounted for longitudinal movement between the guide members 29L of the rocker arm. The feed screw` 27 turns freely in the sleeve 35V but longitudinal movement ofk Ythe feed screw in the sleeve is vprevented by an enlarged portion 27a of the feed screw and a splined sleeve 36.

The feed screw 27 is rotatably mounted atvits lower end in a bearing 37 that permits both rotational and longitudinal movement of the screw, and also anupper bearing block 38` that permits limited rotational. and free longitudinal movement of the, screw. The latter bearing block has a ball lock 39 that is held in engagement with a series of splines 36e that are formedin the sleeve 36. The rsleeve 36 is rigidly secured to the upper end of thek screw shaft. The engagement of the ball lock 39 with the splined sleeveSG prevent-s, rotational movement| of the feed screw 27v except when the screw is operated by the handy adjustingwheel l2 wit-hout materially restricting the longitudinal move ment of the screw. l i

The feed screw 27 also has an enlarged central portion 27.a that provides a shoulder against which the sleeve. 35 abuts to prevent longitudinal movement of the sleeve relative to the screw. `The splined sleeve 36 is keyed against rotational movement with respect to the feed screw and provides a shoulder that maintains the sleeve 35 in fined longitudinal position on the screw shaft.

A link 43. is pivotally mounted on the shaft 18 at its upper end and also has a bearing support aty its lower end for the stud. 2,2. This link insures definite movementy ofthe. cam 20 when engaged by the pawl, 19 and prevents springing the shaft 18by operation of the pawl.

From the above description of the me i chanical parts, associated with this automatic control of the advance of material yinversely in accordance with the thickness of the material fed between the feed rolls l and 2., it will be seen that, if they rocker `armoperating nut 2S, is manuallyv adjusted kto Vnormal position for the particular size of slug. that is to be cut from thev slab material 3, any increase in the thickness of thematerial will rotatek the gage cam Y8 in counter-'clockwise direction which will move the pawl 19` inwardly with respect to the pivot stud 22 of the automatic feed mechanism, thereby en` gaging the cam face `2O near the upper end ofthe cam when the connecting rod 31- starts its upward movement.r When the pawl engages the cam 20, it locks the cam in the engaged position and the relative movement of the rocker arm with respect to the cam`- 20 Y causes the camblock 26 to travel in the eccentric cam slot and to thereby move the sleeve along the guides 29? longitudinally of the rocker arm 29 and to` carry with it the feed screw 27.` The longitudinal movement of the screw 27 of the rocker arm opei'ating nut 2S changes .thel amplitude of the swing Iof the rocker varm 29.`

After adjustment of the` normal size of slug is made with the hand wheel, theeamplitude of the oscillatory movement of the rockerarmy 29 is automatically modified inversely in accordance with the thickness of the material and, since they rocker arm 'is concentrically mounted with respect tothe feed roll 2 and drivesthe feed roll 'through the ratchet mechanism 30, the advance ofthe material by the feed rolls 1 and2 will be 4automaticaly controlled relative to the particularA size of slug foil which the machine is set, inversely in accordance withthe thickness of the material passing under the gauge cam 8. l

It will, therefore, be understood that since the slugs l0, that are formed by the operation of the cutting tool 5, are ofzlixed dimension with respect to their width and, since the longitudinal dimension of the slug is determined by the degree ofthe advance of the sheet of material for the corresponding voperating stroke, the cubical content of theslug will be maintained constant regardless of variationsfin the thickness ofA the slab 3 of Y material from which. the yslugs are cnt.

The remaining figures of the drawings ico show a form of my invention that avoids the t necessity of modifying the advance of the materiallA inversely` .in accordance with its thickness `in order to obtain slugs ofuniform volume. In the modified form of my invention l employ a presser foot that reduces the thickness of the slab of material from which the slugs arebeing cut to aluniforrn gauge and, by cutting the material on each :side of the presser foot, slugs of substantiallyuni` form volumes are produced.

cnA i Fig. 9 of the accompanying draw-ings 1is a cross-sectional view taken on lines Di-IX` are to be formed from the material. The simultaneous operation of the straight cutting element 52 that is positioned onthe otherI i i side vof thepresser foot V54 severs the trailing sideof the slug from the slab material, the longitudinal cuts already having been completed by the preceding operation of the parallel cutting elements 53.

y *SinceV the presser foot 54 that is spaced a definite dista-nce from the platen of the machine by a pair of adjustable blocks V is operated slightly in advance of the cutting elements, it compresses the slab of plastic inaterial to the thickness of the spacer blocks 55 prior the cutting operation. Since the cutting elements 51 and 52 sever the material on each side of thepresser foot, the slugs that are formed between the cuttingelements 51 and`52under the presser vfoot 54 are of predetermined thickness When the slug is severed from the slab and,there`fore, theycontain substantially the same volume of material 1n each instance because all of the dimensions of each of the slugs remain con? stant for every operation of the cutting die.

Fig. ll shows the relative position of the cutting elements 53 as viewed from the discharge side of the machine. The cutting elc ments 5,1., 52 and 53 are all simultaneous actuated by the top platen that also carries the presser foot 54 th at compresses the slab stock Y by means ofhelical springs 56. Y

It will readily be seen thatthis machine embodies substantially all of the advantages of the preceding machine Without incorporating the automatic" advance controlling devices that are adapted to be used with `the preceding form of `my invention y Although l have described only tivo `applications of my invention, it is obvious'that other modifications may be made and I desire, therefore, that only lsuch limitations shall be imposed as are set forth in thespirit' and scope of the appended claims. What I claim is:

1. A machinevfor cutting plastic sheet material of varying gauge comprising a `1eciprocating cutting die, `a cooperating platen, means for supplying sheet material' to said die, and means actuated by the sheetma-l terial yfor controlling the Aquantity of material supplied to said die for each cycle of operation thereof. Y V 9 2. A machine for cutting sheet material `comprising a reciprocating` cutting die, "a

cooperating platen, means for supplying a deiinitearea of sheet `material to said dle for each cycle of operation thereof, means 'for manually changing the area of'material normally supplied to` said die, and means `actuated by the thickness of the" sheet Inate- `rial for modifying the area of material supplied. to said die inversely inaccordancewith the thickness `of said material.` f i A machinefor cutting sheet material comprising aV cutting die, means adapted to supply sheet material tosaid die, means adaptedto `advance a definitelength of said material' to said die/for eachfcycle of 0peration thereof, means for. manually adjlisting the length of material thussupplied. tosaid die for each operation, andimefans actuated by said sheet `material for' automatically modifyingthel length of Vmaterial supplied to said dieinversely in accordance f with the cross-sectionalarea of said material. i

4. The method of forming slugs ofplastic material that consists in forming aseries of parallel "cuts that are joinedbya'transverse cut along one extremity of the parallel cuts, advancing the material a predetermined distance, and again "forming y a series of parallel cuts joined by a `transverse cut intersecting with said parallel cuts, eachcutjting operation beingi'adapted to "form ythe leading face of a slug that is removed from the sheet material by the succeeding operatic n.` y i i' 5. ln a machine adapted to fecl sheet material to a cutting dieyajm'ember in engagement with the sheet, a movable arm engaging the member, a link connected to the arm, and adjusting means connected to the link and to adriving mechanism` for `the sheet of the material operative uponvariations in the thickness of the materialto regir latethe amount of material fed to thecutting die. I l j i 6. Control mechanism for a umachine` adapted to feed sheet material, comprising a gauge in contact withthe sheet, a rocker arm connecting the gauge toa paWl, a cam cooperating ivithithe paWl, a support for the cam, al link mounted on the support, and `means associated With the link `to vary the amount of feed fupon actuation of the gauge. i i i 7. In a machine for feeding sheet material, means engaging the sheet,a driving system associated with the "engaging means, and means for controlling the effectiveness of the driving means, said means comprising an eccentric mounted on the driving means, and a kinematic system operative upon variations in the thickness of the sheet to alter the eccentiicity of 'the controlling means.

8. In a machine for feeding sheet material of Variable thickness, rollers engaging the sheet, driving means periodically actuating the rollers engaging the sheet, a gauge contacting with the sheet, a paWl connected to the gauge, a cam engaging the pawl and an eccentric cooperating with the cani and driving lneans automatically adjustable to alter the eiectii/*e eiort of the driving means upon actuation of the gauge.

In Witness whereof, l have hereunto signed my naine.

VLADIMIR VICTOR MESSER. 

